Researchers observe B.C. sea wolves apparently using tools to get to crab traps
This is the first documented evidence of possible tool use from B.C. sea wolves.
Wild wolves in British Columbia have been observed pulling crab traps out of the sea to eat the bait inside, according to a new study published in the journal Ecology and Evolution.
This is the first documented evidence of possible tool use from this species.
When crab traps at Heiltsuk First Nation started turning up damaged in 2023, researchers Kyle Artelle and Paul Paquet placed cameras near Bella Bella on B.C.’s central coast to help determine the cause.
The traps had been set up to control the invasive European green crab. Researchers initially thought marine mammals were causing the damage because many of them are submerged in deeper waters.
"It can't be a bear, a wolf,” Artelle told the Canadian Press, when recalling their initial thoughts prior to setting up the camera.
“They're not going to dive down to get to the trap. So, what is getting the traps?"
Within a day of setting up the cameras, Artelle and Paquet were proven wrong, with the footage depicting a sea wolf emerging from the water with a buoy in its mouth.
It dropped the buoy on the beach, picked up the now-exposed line, and pulled on it until the trap emerged.
The wolf picked up the trap with its mouth, moved it to shallower water and ate the bait inside.
"We had to pick our jaws off the floor," Artelle told The Canadian Press.
"We know that they're really, really smart, but it hadn't crossed our mind that, oh, maybe a wolf is swimming out to the deeper traps and bringing the buoy to shore, pulling the line up just like a person would."
The camera later picked up another wolf doing the same thing, suggesting they have learned from one another.
Artelle says he isn’t sure how the wolves developed this skill, but speculates they became aware of the crab traps during a low tide, which may have made them visible.
"There might've been this incremental learning that started with the trap fully onshore to traps partly submerged, to then associating the line with the trap and then the buoy with the line … It would make a lot of sense, and that's often how we learn," he said.
Cameras have now been set up 24/7 to better understand the wolf behaviour while minimizing damage to the crab traps.
About B.C. sea wolves
The B.C. sea wolf, also referred to as the Vancouver coastal sea wolf, is a unique subspecies of grey wolf only found along the Pacific Northwest coast.
They are semi-aquatic, and their diet is almost exclusively marine-based. The sea wolves play an important role in local Indigenous cultures, often thought to bring wealth and good luck to those who hear its howl.
They are famously elusive, often avoiding human interaction.